Adjustable trailer hitch



1943- T. H. JACOB 2,328,343

ADJUSTABLE TRAILER HITCH Filed May 31, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORTHOMAS H.JACOB TTORNEYS 1943- T. H. JACOB 2,328,343

ADJUSTABLE TRAILER HI;ICH

INVENTOR THOMAS H- JACOB ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 31; 1943 [Anros'rjABLE'rRAm-Ea nrron f a 1. 1 fl T i ein-" ea e s-i 1 1 Application May 31,1941, Seria1 No. 396,0l3

it [I 3 Claims. (01. zea -3334) I The presentinventionrelatesgenerallyto trail ers and more particularly to an improved trailerBecauseof the extensive use: of trailers today in both industrial andmilitary fields for the transportation of, a varied range of suppliesand e'quipthe difierencein the type of couplings. encolun ered.

in: is a accepted harm iii theeconomical.

'ment, several serious problems: are presented, one .of which resultsfrom the difference in height of available drawbar couplingaand theothergfrom of Figure 3.

line of Figure 3; and;

vention, parts being broken away-and in sec tion to more closelyillustrate. structural details.

Figure 2is a plan view with parts broken away and in; section. Y

view taken on theline 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 isa plan'view taken on the line 4 1 Fi ures isfa detailsectional view taken the 6 6 of Figured.

operation of two-wheeltrailers. the load .mustbe balanced to maintainthe trailer in a substantially horizontalposition, At the "same time,the

hitch should afford a direct horizontal pull relative to the drawbarcoupling. is particularly true injconnection with ball and sloclrethitches.

To meet the foregoing requirementaYthe present inventionhas primarilyfor its object the provision of a trailer having an adjustable hitchsupport to accommodate drawbar couplings positioned at different heightsfrom the ground, and

also maintain the bitch in a substantially horizontal position. i

' In connection with the foregoing, a more spe- Referring now moreparticularly to the accompanying drawings the numeral I designates" amain trailer frame consisting of longitudinalcon verging side farms 2welded or otherwise secured at their forward; ends to ahead 3. 3 Frontand rearbunks 4 secured to the side arms) are supported upon awheelaxlei by leaf springs 6. i Pivotally connected to dependingbrackets 1 carried by the forward bunk is an auxiliary tongue 8consisting of converging side arms 9,

which at their forward ends, are provided with chic object resides inthe provision of an auxiliary adjustable trailertongue provided with ahitch support automatically maintained in level position upon verticaladjustment of the auxiliary tongue relative to the main frame. Anotherobject consists in the provision of an auxiliary tongue pivotallyconnected to the main frame of the trailer andprovided with anadjustable self-leveling hitch support connected with both the auxiliaryhitch tongue and trailer fram by a compensating lever mechanism.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the novel construction,combination and arrangement of parts, substantially as fined by theappended claims, it being understood that such changes in the preciseembodiment of the herein disclosed invention may be made as come withinthe scope of the claims.

' bearings ID for reception of a connecting shaft l I. Pivotally mountedupon the shaft II is a selfleveling hitch plate l2, notched at itsforward end to accommodate a hub. l3, also loosely mounted on the shaft;II and provided with selective hitchesgsuch as a socket hitch l4 and alunette ring '15. The hub l3 is'provided with spaced notches 16 forreception of a locking plate ll,

upon release of which, the hub l3 may be rotated to'operatively presentthe selected hitch.

Secured to the lower face of the plate l2 ad'- jacent its rear end, is abracket l8 provided with an elongated opening [9 through which a pin 20,connecting the forward end; of a pair of compensating levers 2| extend.These levers 2| are hereinafter described, and'more particularly de l Inthe accompanying drawings is illustrated a one complete exampleof thephysical embodiment of the present inventionconstructed according to thebestmode so far devised for the practical application of. the principlesthereof.

In the drawings:

t Figure 1 is an elevational view of'a conventional two-wheeltrailerequipped with the presentinpivotally connected intermediate theirends,.by stub shafts 2i to the side arms 9 and the levers are providedat their lower ends with'slots 22 for reception of pins 23 carried bysaid arms 2 of the trailer frame.

The bracket is is provided at its rear end with i a spanner 24 forreception of pintles 25 carried by an adjustablesleeve 28. As best shownin Figure 3, thesleeve 26 is provided with a threaded bushing 2'! forreception of a screw 28 carried bythe head 3 connecting the forward endsof the side arms 2. A crank 29 is secured to the lower end of the screw28 for manipulating the same, whereby the bracket and hitch plate l2 canbe readily raised and lowered to the desired heights.

In operation of the device it is merely necessary to rotate the crank29in the proper direction to Figure3is an enlarged fragmentarysectionalFigure 6 is adetail section taken nthe "line raise and lower the hitchplate l2 so that the selected hitch Will be in the proper and desiredposition for engaging the companion hitch part carried by the pullingvehicle. As the hitch plate I2 raises or lowers, as the case may be, thesame will be maintained in its level horizontal position due to theconnection thereof with the compensating levers 2|.v These levers 2|will swing on their pivots during the adjustment of the hitch plate and,consequently, the pin 20. carried thereby will exert the desired.pressure on the bracket The latch or locking plate H can be operated inany preferred manner and by referring to" Figures 4 and 6, it can beseen that Ihave provided a hand lever 30 for this purpose. The handlever 30 is keyed or otherwise secured to the cross shaft II, and thisshaft in turn has secured thereto an operating cam 3 I. The cam 3 I isdisposed in the path of an arm 32 formed-on the latch plate H, and,consequently, upon the turning of the shaft l l by the hand lever, thecam 32 vwill push back the latch or lookingplate ll From the foregoingdescrip-ti'omit can be seen that I have provided an especially simpleand depart from the spirit and scope of my claims, and what I claim asnew is:

1. In a trailer including a main frame, a tongue pivotally connected tosaid frame, a hitch support main frame in substantially horizontalposition,

when the hitch support is connected to a tractor c-oupling'regardless ofthe height of the tractor coupling from the ground.

2. In a trailer including a main frame, a tongue I pivotally connectedto said frame and projecting efficient device formaintaining the bitchin a forwardly therefrom, a hitch support pivotally connected to saidtongue, means carried by the ,main frame and connected with said supportfor raising and lowering said hitch support, and a link rockably mountedintermediate its ends upon said tongue'having pivotal and slidingconnection with the hitch support and with said main frame.

3 In a trailer'includin'g a main frame, having forwardly extendingconverging arms, a forward 1y extending tongue pivotally securedtosa'i'd arms at itsre'ar 'end, a'hitch support rockably mounted on theforward endof the tongue and extending rearwardly therefrom, anadjusting screw rotatably carried by the arms, a traveling not on saidscrew, a yoke member pivotally-connecting the hitch support to thetraveling nut, a link rockably mounted intermediate its ends 'on thetongue, means pivotally and slidably' connecting the forward end-of thelinkto. the hitch support in advance'of the nut, and means pivotally andslidably connecting the link tothe arms.

7 THOMAS H. JACOB. I

